Google is partnering with Levi's to create smart pants that can control your phone

Matt Weinberger/ Business Insider What if you never had to pull out your phone to dismiss an incoming call? That's the type of future Google and Levi's are envisioning.

The two companies are partnering to create a pair of "smart" jeans that you can use to perform certain actions on your phone, Google announced during its annual I/O developer conference in San Francisco on Friday.

The move is part of a bigger initiative by Google called "Project Jacquard," which is essentially a type of smart yarn that would allow textile manufacturers to create electronic clothing more easily.

There's no word on when you'll actually be able to buy a pair of the Levi's pants that are to come from the partnership. But we got an idea of how fabric with Google's special yarn woven inside would work. During a demo we saw on Thursday, we tapped a small section of a piece of fabric to pause and play music. You could also swipe the fabric to control volume.

Google isn't the first to dream up such an idea — plenty of companies large and small are working on creating clothing that can connect to your phone. But it sounds like Google is creating a common type of thread that would make it easier to create such devices.

What we're seeing at I/O is just the tip of the iceberg, Google says. Designers and developers will be creating apps that are tailored to these types of smart clothing.